Ms. Palin was elected governor in 2006 on a pledge to clean house after
revelations of oil-industry corruption in the State Legislature, and in
2007 oversaw a sweeping overhaul of policy that included big new taxes
on oil profits.

But this year Gov. Sean Parnell — Ms. Palin’s lieutenant
governor, and successor after her resignation in 2009 — led a drive in
the Republican-controlled Legislature to repeal the Palin tax package,
arguing that it discouraged new exploration. That is a big issue in
Alaska, where oil taxes pay for 90 percent of the state’s general fund
budget.

And now the confusion due to strange bedfellows:

Supporters of the Parnell plan scoff that nostalgia for the Palin years
is misguided hindsight. The old law, they said, created big
disincentives for oil companies to explore and drill.

“People were angry at the oil industry, angry at the Republican Party,
angry at the lawmakers who got caught in the scandal, and she channeled
that,” said Andrew Halcro, the president of the Anchorage Chamber of
Commerce, referring to Ms. Palin. “And so when she raised taxes, people
were like, ‘All right, you go get ’em.’ But then the reality sunk in.”

And that's why I was always so confused when I heard Alaska, oil, Palin, Tea Party, taxes, all in the same paragraph.

“She did the right thing. She put in a tax that was tough on the big
guys,” said Jack Roderick, 87, a major public figure since Alaska’s
early statehood as a lawyer, author, former Democratic mayor of
Anchorage Borough — and now leader of the repeal drive.

The Alaskans did not see the Bakken coming, nor did anyone else for that matter:

“In just the last five or six months, Alaskans are starting to see the
benefit of a competitive tax regime,” he said in a telephone interview,
pointing to new investment in oil drilling areas. He said that he
gradually saw harmful effects in the ACES law he helped Ms. Palin pass
and that Democrats, in “all of a sudden now raising her legacy,” were
overlooking or ignoring the explosive rise of challengers in energy
production since Ms. Palin’s time, notably North Dakota.

When will this be decided?

The referendum on oil taxes will be in August. Mr. Parnell is aiming to
seek a second full term in the general election two months later. The
two races are now intertwined, Democrats said.

This will be interesting to watch.

By the way, this helps me put into perspective North Dakota's approach to the oil patch.